Undetermined cause for downtown Toms River fire

Investigators who pored over remnants of the historic downtown Toms River building destroyed by fire early Tuesday conclude that the cause is not suspicious in nature, but will remain undetermined.

According to information from Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention Chief Inspector Jim Mercready, the extent of the damage at 236 Washington Street required dismantling wtih heavy machinery before it could be declared safe for investigators to undertake their examinations.

A floor-by-floor deconstruction of the structure led investigators to focus on the northeast corner of the first floor, Mercready said.

The converted home had no fire alarms or fire suppression systems, which Mercready attributed to its age - roughly 150 years - and occupancy, and its use as a business site.

It housed the Hometown Heroes nonprofit support organization, Childers/Sotheby's International Realty, and Oliver and Company.

The inability to find an exact cause or ignition source forces the "undetermined" classification, Mercready said.

He added that insurors normally hire private fire investigators to home in on ignition sources, "and have the resources to utilize engineers and labs to analyze any physical evidence if an electrial or mechanical system is possibly the cause of the fire."

Mercready added that the adjacent building, 20 Hadley Avenue, sustained exterior damage from heat radiating off the burning building, but was allowed to be reoccupied.

It is the second time in two years that Hometown Heroes is left homeless. The organization that began as a support system for Superstorm Sandy victims had maintained an office in a Robbins Street building that was razed after a fire in 201